The suspect, Kevin McNeilly, 52, of Manchester, admitted to buying heroin in Hartford, going to the parking lot of the Hampton Inn and Suites in East Hartford to shooting up and then "flooring it" to get away when a security guard approached him, police said.

According to court records, McNeilly has an extensive criminal history that includes 33 arrests since 1981 on burglary and larceny charges, authorities said.

He is accused of crashing into the police officers after they approached him in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn and Suites on East River Drive in East Hartford at 2:45 p.m. because they believed there was a drug transaction, police said.

McNeilly reversed his car into two officers, who were on foot, and struck a third officer when he drove out of the lot, police said.

Officers fired their weapons, but McNeilly was not shot and fled, heading onto the Interstate 84 Eastbound ramp and onto Silver Lane, where he lost part of a tire, drove on lawns and crashed into a locked gate that leads to Applegate Lane, police said.